The present disclosure relates to the field of device monitoring and more particularly, to systems and techniques for gathering data across a large-scale of computing devices, evaluating the data, and responding accordingly.
Computing devices, especially mobile communications devices, are becoming increasingly ubiquitous. People can be found using their computing devices in their homes and offices, at the airport, in coffee shops and libraries, and many other places. Mobile apps and web apps are used for both personal and business purposes. People use their computing devices for tasks as diverse and varied as socializing, entertainment, business productivity, checking the weather, reading the news, managing their finances, shopping, making appointments with their doctor, checking their business and personal e-mail, and producing work-related reports and analysis—just to name a few examples.
The rise and ubiquity of such devices has been accompanied by a rise in malicious software or malware (e.g., computer viruses, ransomware, worms, trojan horses, rootkits, keyloggers, dialers, spyware, adware, malicious browser helper objects (BHOs), or rogue security software), device robberies, information and identity theft, snooping, eavesdropping, and other unsavory acts. Users have seen their bank accounts emptied, identities stolen, and personal health information improperly accessed. Corporations have seen their intellectual property stolen, trade secrets misappropriated, and so forth. There can be defects or bugs in the device software, hardware, or both. Such defects can produce incorrect or unexpected results, or unintended behavior.
There is a continuing need to develop improved systems and techniques for monitoring computing device activity, quickly and accurately identifying threats, and responding accordingly.